WGN Radio to return to its roots in station shakeup

August 20, 2013|By Robert Channick | Tribune reporter

When veteran Chicago radio executive Jimmy de Castro took the helm of WGN-AM 720 in June, there was much speculation that the former architect of WLUP-FM might be getting his rowdy radio band back together.

Two of his former charges — Jonathon Brandmeier and Garry Meier — were already in place, and images of an aging rock army of "Loop" listeners in black T-shirts storming Tribune Tower seemed a plausible fantasy for reviving the fortunes of the once-mighty WGN.

It turns out, de Castro's vision is a lot more Wally Phillips than Disco Demolition.

Paying tribute to a legacy station whose lineup was purged several years ago in a largely unsuccessful bid to reinvent itself, WGN is returning to its own radio roots.

The venerable station plans to roll out a new but familiar lineup beginning Sept. 3, bringing back WGN alumni that include Steve Cochran and Kathy & Judy.

Morning man Brandmeier, who joined WGN two years ago, is being shifted to a new virtual FM station — wgnfm.com — while the station's owner, Tribune Co., looks to buy an FM frequency in the next year, according to de Castro, president and general manager of WGN Radio.

"We're doing a lot of innovative stuff, but we're also honoring the tradition and expectations of WGN," de Castro said.

On a dry erase board in his seventh-floor office, de Castro has been sketching out the future of WGN for several months. While the new AM lineup is not set, morning drive will go to Cochran, a former afternoon drive host at WGN who was cut loose during a 2010 shake-up by short-lived program director Kevin Metheny.

Cochran, 52, whose contract with low-rated WIND-AM expired in June, has been working on a freelance fill-in basis during the interim at WGN. He is not under contract yet with his new full-time employer.

"We're working off a handshake," Cochran said. "I'm completely comfortable with that. We'll get something done."

Longtime Chicago radio and TV veteran Bob Sirott announced Monday he is leaving WFLD-Ch. 32 to host a weekday radio show on WGN with his wife, Marianne Murciano. The most likely time slot is noon to 3 p.m., de Castro said.

Former Loop personality Garry Meier will remain in afternoon drive from 3 to 7 p.m., but he will be partnered with a co-host, de Castro said.

Overnight man Bill Leff will likely take the reins from 9 a.m. to noon, also paired with a co-host.

Kathy O'Malley and Judy Markey, the popular "Girlfriends" midday duo ousted after 20 years in 2009, are also coming back to host a weekly Saturday show from 10 a.m. to noon.

Metheny came to WGN under Randy Michaels, a former radio executive who rose to become CEO of Tribune Co. after the media company fell into bankruptcy in December 2008. With Metheny hire Mike McConnell recently ousted from his slot and banished to a stand-alone digital stream on WGN-2, the returns of Cochran and Kathy & Judy seem to further repudiate the changes in programming direction that occurred during Michaels' tenure. Michaels was forced to resign in October 2010.

"It's definitely a retreat to higher ground," said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, a radio trade publication. "They're going back to what they now know were more successful days, prior to the changes that began under Randy Michaels."

Harrison said Michaels and Metheny undervalued the heritage of WGN and the bond the station shared with its listeners.

"One of the most important things that a radio station has is a heritage that makes you larger than the sum of your parts," he said.

Never one to mince words, Cochran said his former bosses were "disrespectful" to the core WGN audience, driving away listeners. His aim is to get them back in the fold, along with a new audience for the station.

"The previous administration just blew off this core audience," Cochran said. "The core audience had an expectation of what WGN was, and that went away. So for those people, it's great."

De Castro, 60, who ran the seminal WLUP-FM and its roster of larger-than-life personalities during its heyday in the 1980s, rode a wave of industry consolidation during a 25-year radio management career until he led the largest chain in the nation.

He began his new role June 3, reporting to Larry Wert, his former WLUP protege, who became Tribune Co.'s head of local broadcasting in February. Chicago-based Tribune Co. owns eight daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, dozens of television stations, WGN America and its legacy radio station, which has been on the air since the 1920s.

WGN recently has endured its share of challenges amid personnel changes and revenue declines, culminating in the departure of longtime general manager Tom Langmyer in October. The station ranks fifth in the most recent Arbitron ratings for Chicago with a 4.6 share, and it took a big hit in revenue last year, dropping by more than $5 million, to $30.2 million, according to BIA/Kelsey.